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Some 3,000 ultra-Orthodox Israelis have received call-up orders to the IDF and will be enlisted for active service by August 2013, the army announced on Thursday.

The young men who were slated to join the military had until recently deferred their service due to their religious beliefs, Maj. Gen. Orna Barbivai, the head of manpower in the IDF, told Israel Radio.

2013 will be the first year in which the number of ultra-Orthodox draftees will be in the thousands, she said.

Barbivai also expressed concern regarding the inordinate number of Ethiopian soldiers currently serving out sentences in military prisons. She said that approximately 20% of inmates came from families of Ethiopian immigrants — far more than their representation in the army — despite the fact that members of the community are highly motivated when they first enlist in the IDF.

After Plesner publicized his committee’s recommendations, Netanyahu teamed him up with Vice Prime Minister Moshe Ya’alon to hammer out a bill that would incorporate all of the committee’s principles while also taking into account the objections of those who had left the committee. That attempt also failed to produce results, prompting the Kadima party to bolt the coalition.

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